If you have a high balance on a credit card and are only making minimum payments, start paying down the balance. It's important to pay down (or even better, pay off) revolving accounts such as credit cards. This will lower your credit-to-debt ratio (what you have borrowed in relation to what you could borrow), and is one way to improve your credit score. Paying off installment loans such as auto loans, student loans, etc. won't improve your credit score as dramatically.
If an investigation doesn’t resolve your dispute with the credit reporting company, you can request that a statement of the dispute be included in your file and in future reports. You can also ask the credit reporting company to provide a statement to anyone who received a copy of your report in the recent past. You can expect to pay a fee for this service, and a dispute on your credit report does not improve your credit score.
Cardholders can benefit from an 0% Introductory APR on purchases for 18 billing cycles and an introductory $0 balance transfer fee for the first 60 days your account is open. After that, the fee for future balance transfers is 3% (min. $10). Once the intro period ends, there is a 14.99% - 24.99% Variable APR. You can benefit from a $0 annual fee and access to your free FICO® Score.
Here is a simple test. (This is not 100% accurate mathematically, but it is an easy test). Divide your credit card interest rate by 12. (Imagine a credit card with a 12% interest rate. 12%/12 = 1%). In this example, you are paying about 1% interest per month. If the fee on your balance transfer is 3%, you will break even in month 3, and will be saving money thereafter. You can use that simplified math to get a good guide on whether or not you will be saving money.
My wife and I recently decided we wanted to buy a home better suited to starting a family and sell our townhouse (which she owned when we met). I didn't have the best, let's say, track record with financials in my past and my credit was abysmal. I hit rock bottom 2.5 years ago when my car ( a beautiful fully loaded Jeep) was reposed on Xmas eve morning. Even then, although angry and ashamed, I didn't do much to help myself out. My 20's, which were years of partying, spending and generally speaking not caring had finally caught up. I was 29. So, we got to work with fixing things. Paying off creditors, paying down debts, making on time payments, etc. When we had my credit run about 6 weeks ago, it was 588. This was much higher than the 410 I had a couple years ago, but still a far cry from good. (Side note here, be mindful of using credit cards that track your fico score, or having a credit bureau account that gives you your score. There are around 30 different scores that are used, and different scores are used for different types of inquires (auto loan is different than mortgage)). So we got to work, paid off the last couple things and really started paying attention to what was happening. One thing I can't stress enough is every year, you're allowed to get 3 free credit reports, 1 from each bureau. You MUST do this each year. This is where I found my credit windfall. I was able to uncover the fact that a debt that had been paid of was still being reported as open and late. I also found a debt that wasn't mine! A big one. $1700 showing open and late for 2 years with a collector. I filled a report with the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) and they started an investigation. The company that had this debt wrote me a letter saying that even though I had no proof that the debt wasn't mine, they would absolve it and would contact the 3 credit bureaus to have the reporting removed and cleared. At this point, I called my broker and said it's time to run the simulator. They ran it, and then performed what is called a Rapid Rescore. Some brokers charge for this; good ones don't. Since they are trying to get your business they will do it for free. If it's at cost, it's roughly $10 per item per report. If you have a lot of issues it can add up. Anyhow, they did the rescore, did the simulator, ran a hard inquiry and BOOM, 657.
Harzog was a successful freelance journalist for over 20 years, writing for major national magazines and custom publications. She became so entrenched in the credit industry, that in 2008, she was approached by CardRatings.com to be a credit card spokesperson for their site. In 2010, Harzog then went on to become the credit card expert for Credit.com.
I have spent the last three months looking at reviews getting mixed feelings with all thats going on here but i went ahead and called around and I must agree other places seem so sketchy compared to Reliant Credit Repair, they were so nice and so helpful and did the consultation right then and there for free and even told me that I didnt need their services, gave me free advice and told me exactly what to do and how to do it and now my credit literally went up for 60 points. I filed bankruptcy and had no open accounts all my accounts were included in bankruptcy and my 7 year mark is coming up in september, My wife on the other hand needed their services and signed up with them and seriously so far so good. we are very happy!
The Capital One® Secured Mastercard® is great for people who may not have the cash available for a $200 security deposit. The minimum security deposit is $49, $99 or $200, based on your creditworthiness. If you qualify for the $49 or $99 deposit, you will still receive a $200 credit limit. This is a great feature, plus you can get access to a higher credit line after making your five monthly payments on time — without needing to deposit more money. This card also comes with Platinum Mastercard benefits that include auto rental and travel accident insurance, 24-hour travel assistance services and more.
How it works: A student credit card is the same as a regular credit card but typically has a lower credit limit. The lower limit is due to the smaller income students have compared with adults. Your teen can use their student card just like you’d use your card. However, student cards tend to have higher interest rates than non-student cards — making it all the more important for your teen to pay on time and in full each month.

If you are in the process of getting a mortgage and cannot wait sixty days for the updates to work their way through the system, you can force your scores up in a matter of four days using the Rapid Rescore tool. This high powered credit repair aid is only available through mortgage originators. To take advantage of a Rapid Rescore you must provide your loan officer with clear documentation to support the score update. This is especially easy if you have reduced credit card balances. Just contact the creditor and ask for a balance letter. Rapid Rescore can be used to update any info on your report as long as you can provide solid objective documentation. It’s a great credit repair tool.

As newer debt weighs more heavily on your credit report than older debt, your score can drop when you make an effort to pay, whether in part or in full. While the payment will make the debt show as settled in full, it may show on your report as new debt. Regardless of how it shows on your report, ensure that the lender removes the charged-off status on your old debt and shows it as paid in full.
UPDATE: The Alternative Loan Machine is actually fixing the issue for me now. Apparently the problem was during the period when they were switching from beta testing to going live. Their communications were down while they were transferring everything over to their new system. They’ve since contacted me and are assisting in getting my refund back from the vendor I hired through them, so everything’s getting taken care now. They are at this time doing everything they advertise themselves doing.